NAVI — ESL One Germany 2020 runner-ups

NAVI takes second place

The online tournament ESL One Germany 2020 with a prize pool of $400,000 has concluded. The Natus Vincere players showed a very solid performance, reaching the final of the championship, but losing in the final match.

NAVI started their performance in the group stage of the competition, which was played according to the Swiss system: to enter the playoffs the teams had to get three wins, and in a case of three losses the participants had to leave the tournament.

The first opponent of the Born to Win was the team Cyber Legacy, who were defeated without any problems with the score 2 : 0, but then Natus Vincere faced Team Liquid and lost in a very intense match with the score of 1 : 2.

In the third match, our guys faced another representative of the CIS — Winstrike Team. The match ended in a confident victory with the score 2 : 0 — only one victory remained before entering the playoffs.

Unfortunately, Natus Vincere players couldn't spare themselves the extra hassle by losing mudgolems — 0 : 2. As a result, the guys had to fight for the slot with the last remaining CIS team — Yellow Submarine. The match turned out to be extremely tense, but still victorious for NAVI — 2 : 1. Thus, the Born to Win is the last CIS team that has to defend the honor of the region in the main part of the championship.

In the playoffs, the first opponent was the winner of two The International — OG.  NAVI were not favorites: after all, the team reached this stage not without difficulties. But the striking victory with the score 2 : 1 made us forget about the difficult performance in the group — a great start for the Born to Win!

The following match turned out to be more steady. The guys showed a great game by sending a pretty strong opponent Vikin.gg — to the lower bracket.

The final of the upper bracket looked quite alarming for the fans: NAVI's next rival was the mudgolems, who defeated us in the group stage. The interest in the match was added by the fact that earlier the mudgolems has beaten one of the best teams of recent times, interrupting their win streak — Team Secret.

However, the course of the match turned out to be quite different from what the spectators had imagined. Natus Vincere players outplayed mudgolems with the score 2 : 0 and thus took revenge for the defeat in the group.  NAVI is in the Grand Final! Such a long-awaited sentence for fans!

In the final match, Natus Vincere had to face Team Liquid, a team that gained excellent form during the championship. The list of the teams they defeated in the tournament consisted of serious names: Nigma, Team Secret, Vikin.gg. In other words, the match promised to be very difficult for the Born to Win.

Team Liquid players were very quick to take two games in a row, which significantly broke the spirit of our team. Nevertheless, NAVI players managed to come out victorious on the third game, but right after that Team Liquid managed to finish what they had started. 1 : 3 — defeat, but with a very respectable game played by our guys.

As a result, Natus Vincere becomes a runner-up of the online tournament ESL One Germany 2020, winning $ 80,000. We are sure that this result is just the beginning for the players! Keep supporting NAVI, and the team will return the favor with great games in the upcoming championships! #navination